Well, shit. I got out of the asylum and to the first save point, attacked the depressed knight, and now whenever I respawn he kicks the shit out of me.

you're early enough where you can restart.. lol don't attack NPCs. Especially don't attack ones that can kick your ass.
That NPC actually isn't really needed - game wise. You can lure him by one of the dropoffs on the cliff and just kick him off (forward plus regular attack -- I believe it's forward plus RB on 360). Just keep kicking him till he falls off.. afterwards you can quit to the main menu and then reload and he'll be gone and you can collect his goodies (humanity). Also, your next area should be up the mountain side behind the bonfire. You'll see a small set of stairs going up the mountain if you look behind you. That's where you need to go, don't try to make it through the graveyard.
What character class did you start out with? I hope a Pyro.